I shared a lovely photo session recently with two happy dogs in the San Diego Embarcadero Marina Park! Brizzie & Dixie are two beautiful pups who were more than happy to strike a few poses for the camera, and I absolutely loved photographing them. Honestly, it was the perfect afternoon: gorgeous dogs (who are so well-behaved that they can run around off-leash), and a fantastic setting! If you can believe it, I’ve actually never photographed a session at the San Diego Embarcadero (just south of Seaport Village)… so visiting there for the first time with these dogs was an absolute thrill!

This is Brizzie (short for Brisbane) the chocolate labradoodle! She’s a total mama’s girl & had a great time running around with us.

And this is Dixie the golden retriever! She greeted me like this – seriously, this was one of the first frames out of my camera. What a goofball, haha!

And what a pretty setting! It was a perfect, cloudless afternoon & we couldn’t resist admiring the marina for a bit.

Kay, thanks again for introducing me to your gorgeous dogs! I can’t wait to show you the rest of our photos! :)

Owners of black dogs seem to all have the same problem in common: it’s extra-difficult to take a good photo of their pup! I can’t tell you how often I’m asked, “My dog is black, is that a problem for you?” or “All I see is a black blob when I take pictures of my dog, how do you get your photos to turn out?” And most recently, Biscuit & Apollo’s mom came to me with the same concerns. So I thought I’d gear their Sneak Peek blog post toward this problem, and hopefully answer a few questions along the way! :)

Black dogs, honestly, are no different than dogs of any other color. (Animal shelters have been trying to tell us this for years, too!) The problem most people have is with the light-absorbing quality of their fur. And unfortunately, most people test this phenomenon in pretty awful conditions, without knowing it: trying to take a picture of your black dog, somewhere inside your house, using your phone or pocket camera, is a perfect storm for blurry photos! I won’t get too technical, but the reason for this difficulty is because a camera thrives off of light (photograph translates literally to “light picture”). When you’re indoors without the powerful light of the sun, and photographing a subject that doesn’t reflect much light, with a camera that can’t adapt to these conditions, it’s no wonder people get bad results! But I explained to Biscuit & Apollo’s mom that there are two things we can do in our session to prevent any problems: A) go outside, and B) schedule our session for the best light of the day! So we headed out to her neighborhood park about an hour before sunset, and we didn’t have a single problem creating great (non-blurry) portraits of her dogs! :)

Take a look: this is Apollo, the handsome lab mix. His fur is 90% black, with a few white patches on his chest, neck & paws (and a few random hairs on his face too). But as you can see, with plenty of soft light, Apollo’s good looks shine through!

Just for fun: black dogs can be captured in action, too! No blur required. ;)

And here’s Apollo’s older sister, Biscuit! (She’s a Korean Jindo mix!) Doesn’t she have a lovely smile? Her fur isn’t all black either, but the same rules apply.

They are so cute, right?! Such happy dogs!

Barbara, thanks for a super-fun photo session!  I’ll be in touch with the rest of your photos very soon! :)

If you’re interested in more pet photography tips, check out my featured Top 10 Tips post on the FACE Foundation blog! Thanks for reading!

Most of my clients are people I’ve never met before; they might have found my information & portfolio online, or maybe they saw my work hanging in a local boutique, or perhaps we met at a recent dog-friendly event. But my latest session came about as a result of a very different introduction: we met in sixth grade! Haha, my newest client Nicole & I go way back: we played basketball on the same team in middle school, went to high school together, and recently reunited when I moved to San Diego! She’s from Portland too, but moved to San Diego after college to study speech-language pathology, and now she lives here & works in a local elementary school. She was one of the very few people I knew in San Diego when Mr. Shamrell & I moved here last year, and when she said she wanted to introduce me to her dogs for a photo session, I was absolutely thrilled! It’s not every day that I get to work with someone that I’ve known for more than ten years! We used to sit in class together, run up & down the basketball court together… and now, years later, I get to create images of her beautiful family! It’s a bit surreal, but so fun! :)

So I met Harvey & Batgirl for a bit of pet photography in Balboa Park. They’re two little partners in crime that definitely keep their parents busy. Batgirl is the ringleader, for sure – an adorable French bulldog with all the attitude her little body can possibly hold. Harvey is a strikingly handsome shepherd mix, who loves to be social and generally follows his sister’s lead. They’re a super-cute pair and both of them were so much fun to work with!

 This is Batgirl! She’s hands-down one of the smartest & most willful dogs I’ve ever met. This pup will figure out a way to get what she wants, no matter what it is! (But usually it’s a water bottle. She loves water bottles.)

 This is Harvey, taking a rest after playing a quick game of fetch. And this photo is a great example of why I always insist on scheduling sessions for the hour before sunset; just look at that light on his fur!

And while I don’t usually post photos with people in them here on the blog, Nicole & Jon are just going to have to forgive me for this one! How adorable is this family?! :)

Nicole & Jon, I had so much fun with all four of you! I can’t wait to show you all the rest of our photos! :)